And those are the Cliffs of Moher.
What, you want me to talk about them too? I thought showing you some pretty pictures would suffice! Alright, alright, quit being so pushy. The Cliffs of Moher are on the western coast of a small peninsula in County Clare (map: http://bit.ly/dswfGl), where Ireland meets the Atlantic Ocean (I could almost see my house in Pennsylvania from there)! The Cliffs are one of Ireland’s biggest tourist attractions (I think I saw more Americans there than any other place I’ve been to in the past month) and a favorite location for the Irish postcard industry.
Also, you nerds out there may recognize it as the spot where they filmed the entrance to the cave where Voldemort hid one of his Horcruxes in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (I looked for the Horcrux while I was there, but all I found after drinking this nasty potion was a locket with a note from some R.A.B. guy inside of it). Obviously, as cliffs that rise up to nearly 400 feet above the cold, rocky Atlantic shore, it might be a bit dangerous, but the people there know how to warn you to be careful both directly with funny signs:
And also indirectly with memorials that could very well be in your honor if you try anything stupid:
On the highest part of the Cliffs is a section of a castle known as O’Brien’s tower:
It was built by 19th century Irish politician Cornellius O’Brien, who reputedly built it in order to impress his lady friends who came over for late night visits (I guess so they could play checkers or tiddlywinks with a view or something like that). Now people can climb the awkward staircase to the top (after paying an annoying €2) and check out the view. On a clear day (which it kind of wasn’t), you can see the Aran Islands in distance (which you kind of can):
If you wanted to see more pictures of the Cliffs (though they all become sort of the same after a while), click on the link on the top-left side that says “Clare Pictures” (or just click on where I just said “Clare Pictures”). Next, I might talk about my life at the University of Limerick a little bit more, because all two of the people who voted in my recent poll said they would like that (wow, you get higher voter turnout for county ombudsman during the primaries!).
Those cliffs are TREMENDOUS and so lovely. I especially love your opening image. It is so much more warranted that a first paragraph. :P
ReplyDelete(Although the sign of a person falling off a cliff has to be my second favorite image. Who is in charge of designing these signs? They are my favorite!) And while it may be tragic to fall from them, I think we should be grateful that they have not installed railings or fences of some kind along the cliffs. I would not like such an intrusion. Fences and feces are close linguistic relatives for a reason.
Love.